Internationally-acclaimed journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger issued the following statement on behalf of the Courage Foundationyesterday. Pilger is a trustee of the organisation, which raises funds for the legal defense of persecuted whistleblowers, journalists and publications, including Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.

Pilger will be addressing the June 17 Sydney Town Hall Square rally, called by the Socialist Equality Party, demanding that the Australian government take immediate action to secure Assange’s freedom and return to Australia, with a guarantee that he will not be extradited to the United States.

Justice and freedom for Julian Assange mean free speech for us all

The Courage Foundation announces an urgent campaign to support Julian Assange and demand his freedom. Keep an eye on our liveblogfor updates.

This month, it will be six years since Julian was forced to take refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. He had been warned; the US Department of Justice was likely to file an application with Britain’s Home Office for his extradition to the United States. The allegations against Julian and WikiLeaks in the US were subsequently declared secret by a US District Court judge, but it has since been confirmed that a grand jury in Virginia has concocted a number of possible ‘charges’ against the WikiLeaks founder.

with Sun Long Hooded Double Coat Block Sleeve Pockets Panel Stripes The most likely of these is ‘espionage,’ which harks back to a long-defunct First World War law designed to punish conscientious objectors.

Julian is not an American; neither has he ‘betrayed’ any state. His ‘crime’ has been free journalism and publishing, which are protected under the US Constitution, a document whose sanctity has apparently been jettisoned.

WikiLeaks has done no more than the New York Times and the Washington Post in their celebrated past—it has revealed the truth about rapacious wars and the machinations of a corrupt elite. In response to this truth-telling, a Cold War fantasy known as ‘Russiagate’ has attempted to paint Julian—and by extension all journalists—as some ‘spies.’

What CNN and the rest of the media do not tell you is that the most senior of US intelligence have admitted under oath that their agencies have found not the slightest evidence to link Assange or WikiLeaks to Russia.

Julian’s status as a political refugee under the 1951 Convention has the backing of the United Nations, whose Working Party on Arbitrary Detentions has demanded an end to his persecution. The Working Party, one of the world’s highest authorities on international law, conducted an investigation in which the British Government took part, and found unanimously in Julian’s favour.

The UN calls on Britain to honour its responsibilities under the Convention and give Julian right of passage out of the embassy.

Since Easter, Julian’s isolation has become extreme; according to Human Rights Watch, “His refuge in the embassy looks more and more like solitary confinement.”

He is denied basic communications; he is refused access to the phone and internet and visitors are forbidden. In forging a new, deferential relationship with the United States, President Lenín Moreno and the Ecuadorean government clearly aim to make life so difficult for Julian that he is silenced completely or he is forced to leave the embassy, into the waiting arms of the police.

A US extradition application is likely to follow and Julian will be destined for the kind of penal hell-hole that Chelsea Manning endured. The former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, whose government granted Julian political asylum, has condemned his treatment as ‘torture.’

Related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq17XU2OMnA Co-Written by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers Last week, rallies in support of Julian Assange were held around the world. We participated in two #AssangeUnity events seeking to #FreeAssange in Washington, DC. This is the beginning of a new phase of the campaign to stop the persecution of Julian…

Below is the speech delivered by the well known journalist and documentarian John Pilger to the rally to free Julian Assange held by the Socialist Equality Party of Australia on Sunday, June 17 in Sydney's Town Hall Center. Thank you for coming for Julian and thank you to the SEP…

Coat Double Pockets Sleeve Panel Stripes with Long Sun Block Hooded Credible reports indicate that Ecuador’s government is about to renege on the political asylum it granted to WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange and hand him over to British police, possibly within days. The reports also indicate that Assange would be subjected to lengthy imprisonment by the British authorities, perhaps for two…

July 23, 2018

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One Comment

Journalists, particularly those that engage in adversarial reporting, are viewed by powerful Deep State actors as agents of influence. Personally, I feel the role of a journalist is that of a democratic watch keeper. If that makes me a spy in the eyes of covert and overt power agents, then I embrace that title wholeheartedly.

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